Straight-Forward Love
by LuckyGreenMark
Summary: Riker never fooled around and waited when it came to his relationship with Laura. /RIAURA\


**Blah blah blah I know I should be working on Peter Season or ET instead of making these meaningless one-shots, but this idea popped in my head and I was in the mood for some cute fluffiness. I also have another one coming soon. Ideas, ideas! Anyway, I don't own anything except the plot and... yeah... well... Enjoy!**

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><p>The first time they met, he told her she was beautiful.<p>

Laura was visiting Ross's house after a long day of Austin and Ally filming. It was the beginning of that TV series, when Laura had Ross written down as a _good_ friend, not _best_ friend. But he seemed pretty nice, so when he invited the whole main cast (which was only her, Raini, and Calum) over for a mini celebration of their fourth show, she agreed.

She had been expecting Ross to answer, because well _duh_. He invited her. He was most likely going to answer the door for her. She was expecting a tall blonde teenager with a dimpled smile. _Not_ a _taller_ blonde dude with a sexy half-smile that he gave her as he answered the door instead of Ross.

They got through the awkward_ um-who-are-you-um-I-was-invited-oh-by-my-brother-yeah-I-didn't-know-he-had-an-older-brother-oh-yeah_ conversation, and then he introduced himself as Riker Lynch.

"Riker Anthony Lynch," he said, dipping his head in a small bow. "I'm assuming you are Laura Marano?"

"That would be me," she said lamely. Riker smiled generously, despite her (unintentional) monotonous voice.

"Ross never told me he had beautiful friends."

"What?" Such brilliance in that one-word response.

"You're beautiful."

Now, Laura was used to people telling her she was beautiful. Her parents: "_Oh, darling. I'm so proud of you, look how far you've come! You're so beautiful!"_ Or her friends: "_Oh my God, Laura! That dress on you! You look beautiful!"_ But never from a cute guy like Riker.

Yeah, she admits, he's cute. Hot. Seriously sexy, if she was being honest with herself. (Because he totally made those silver rings, Converse, blue jeans, and graphic T-shirt work.) But she couldn't tell him that. She was too surprised by his warm compliment of him calling her beautiful and she wondered if he was kidding with her.

"Me? Beautiful?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. Everybody has a different perspective of beautiful, I guess, but you... you should fit in all of them."

"Well... Thank you."

"Oh, no problem."

The way he threw it around so casually and acted like it was no big deal made her cautious. Sometimes players with girls took that kind of thing for granted, and sometimes they didn't really mean it. Although Laura did know about human culture. Manners had decreased so dramatically over the last few years. Maybe this guy still had some old kindness in him. Maybe he was just being polite, and overstating that she was just good-looking.

But he brought it up later, when she was sitting in the kitchen of the Lynch household. (She found out Ross and Riker were not the only Lynch children. There was a sister, Rydel, and two other brothers, Rocky and Ryland. And some guy who was their best friend that practically lived with them, Ellington Ratliff.) She was dwindling with her orange soda, taking small sips, when Riker appeared next to her on the empty stool.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Why are you calling me that still?" Laura asked. It was surprising. Nobody had ever given her a nickname. Much less a nickname like _beautiful_. Isn't that what boyfriends called their girlfriends?

"Why are you acting so surprised whenever I call you beautiful?" he asked back.

"Because nobody has ever really called me beautiful. At least not in the way you said it."_ At least, not in the way I THINK you said it._

"Really?" Riker mused. "People should say it more often. It's true."

So then the day continued on, and they all decided to go swimming in the pool the Lynchs had in the backyard. Laura had come prepared with a blue bikini, and she got to see Riker shirtless (_whoah_) and Ross showed her how to do a flip off the little diving board they had. Then, when she was leaving, Riker caught her before she went out the door and they gave each other their numbers.

"We should be best friends," he had called to her as she walked down the path to her car.

All in all, it was a perfect day.

* * *

><p>Two days later, she was greeted with a surprise. Ross had brought his siblings (plus that Ellington dude) with him to their filming studio of Austin and Ally. She got to see Riker again, and they had a talk over the short fifteen minute break the director offered.<p>

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, Riker."

"Do you have a nickname for me?" he asked teasingly, and Laura blushed.

"You want me to say _hey, sexy_?" Laura asked. Riker's eyes lit up. (They were dark brown, a little caramel mixed in with it, and they were seriously smoldering adorable.) He cocked his blonde head to the side.

"You think I'm sexy?"

"Well..."

Riker grinned. (When he smiled, only his top row of teeth showed.) Then he slipped on black sunglasses, where the lenses bounced back her reflection. She stared at the view the sunglasses showed, when really, in a way, she was staring at Riker's eyes.

There was a bell that dinged, signaling it was time to start filming again. Laura stood up, straightening her denim jacket.

"That's time. I have to go back to filming."

"Okay. We should talk more."

She started walking away, but right before she turned a corner, he called out one more thing to her.

"I think you're sexy too."

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><p>After that, they hung out more. He dropped by the Austin and Ally set as much as he could, and would watch them film from the background, and talk to her on her breaks. She got to memorize more about him, not that she was a stalker or anything. Just physical things, like how his blonde hair actually had some brown bits in it, and a few strands hung across his forehead. Or his nose, the way it was skinnier than the other Lynch siblings' noses. Or how damn <em>tall<em> he was. Like holy cow. He was a head taller than her.

Then, after a long day of filming, Riker threw out, "Hey, you want to go on a date?"

Laura stopped, staring at him. He smiled innocently, like he had asked her if she wanted a ride home, not to go on a date with him.

"A date?" she echoed.

Riker nodded. "Yeah."

"Where?"

"The beach."

"When?"

"Right now."

"Really? Right now? It's seven." Laura shifted nervously on her two feet, and Riker nodded, like she had agreed with him.

"Yeah. When the sun isn't too hot but the ocean won't be too cold. We can find an area where not a lot of people are too, so we have some alone time." He sounded like he was making it up on the spot. Wow.

"Uh... Sure. I mean, if you can. I totally can, but how...?"

"Everything's fine," Riker said. Then he grinned, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together. "Let's go."

He took her in his car and drove to the beach, and the sky was still a soft blue, but not too hot. She was wearing jeans that went down to her knees, which was good, and a light breezy white top. Riker was wearing shorts and a black T-shirt, which he tore off and threw in the sand before running out into the water.

"Come on Laura!" he yelled. "Join me!"

Laura let out a laugh, before padding into the ocean. Riker grinned, walking up to her and gently shoving her, almost making her stumble.

"Riker!"

"I barely pushed you."

"Well, I'm like a house of cards! You're like... I don't know... a huge tornado." Laura immediately bit her lip at the word tornado, and Riker stared at her curiously. Then he walked up to her and grabbed her hand, spinning her like they were dancing. Then he pulled her close, but instead of releasing her, he held her tightly.

"Aww, don't be afraid of me," Riker said. "Pwease? I pwomise I won't ever, ever hurt you."

"Riker..."

"Seriously." Suddenly the playful expression slipped off his face and he was dead calm. "I promise I won't ever hurt you, Laura. Promise and swear on my life. Okay? I'll never hurt you, and I'll do anything in my power to make sure nothing hurts you."

Laura blinked slowly, staring at him. Water droplets fell from his slightly damp hair, trailing down the side of his face and down his throat. Her eyes followed, and she looked back up at him. They stood there for a moment, staring at each other, and Laura's breathing went shallow like the water.

"I'm going to kiss you," he suddenly said. Before Laura could really process what he said, he leaned down and gently pressed his mouth to hers.

Then, they were kissing like crazy, her hands going to his hair and his arms locking around her waist and both of them wanted to keep kissing but they had to breathe and there was the sound of their short gasps every time they pulled away for a second to catch their breath before they pushed their lips back together and he had to bend down slightly so he could reach her and she stood on her toes and there was nobody around to see them and there was this pleasurable, light feeling forming inside of her and spreading through her body-

"Laura." Her name on his tongue sounded amazing.

"Riker." His name on her tongue sounded amazing.

"I like you," he said, his voice soft with emotion.

"Me too."

"Good, because I wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer anyway," Riker chuckled. "We should be together."

After that, they started dating. It was almost like normal, except he wasn't afraid to move his hands and kiss her. It was the happiest time of Laura's life, really. Riker was the sweetest, most caring boyfriend she could really ask for, and he just clicked with her like a puzzle piece. Different, but it worked.

* * *

><p>Then, she saw him break down.<p>

Six months into their relationship, and they were still going strong, like they had still just gotten together and were exploring the depths of their love. They had kept it a secret from everybody though, making sure to only act like friends. The media would go crazy if they found out Riker and Laura were together, with the four year age difference. But what Laura didn't realize that while Riker and Laura were happily together, Ross was just dreaming of tearing them apart.

It was a rainy Wednesday, in the middle of the day when nobody was around. He came running down the street and pounded on her door, and when she opened it up, she saw him crying for the very first time. Tears spilled from his chocolate-candy-sweet eyes, and droplets of the storm raced down the strands of his hair that wasn't covered by the hood of his black sweatshirt.

"Riker, what's wrong?"

He wasn't smooth and casual and had every word planned out ahead to sound clever and well-though. Instead, he only collapsed onto her, and she barely was able to hold him up. She led him to the bench that on the front porch of her house, and Riker started to cry.

"Riker, tell me what's wrong. Why are you crying?" Laura touched his hair, feeling the wet raindrops. He let out a sob, and Laura felt her heart ache from seeing him sad.

"I'm so sorry, Laura," Riker sobbed. He turned and kissed her stomach softly, and Laura sighed.

"Riker, explain. Why are you sorry? You have nothing to feel sorry for." Riker only hid his face with his hands, and Laura grabbed his wrists and pulled them away.

"Don't cover that angel face. It's pretty. I want to see it."

"Laura, you don't understand. I just ruined your career. I just... I just ruined everything." Riker sat up, and Laura stared at him.

"Riker, explain already! You're making me worried."

Riker stared at her, before taking a deep breath. Then it all spilled out of him in one breath. "Ross found out we were dating. He said... he said he caught a picture of us together at the beach, remember? And... and he's going to reveal them to the magazines if we don't break up."

"What?" Laura demanded, and Riker broke down again.

"That's... that's not all. I told him that if he is going to throw a big tantrum just because he didn't get the girl, he can just go cry to Mom. And then... then... he got real pissed and he emailed them to Us Weekly magazine right in front of me." Riker closed his eyes, letting another sob rip from his throat. "Laura, don't you get it? He ruined it now. Your career, mine, it's _over_. People are going to think we're repulsive, Laura. What about your family?"

Laura whimpered, and Riker started to cry more. Her heart felt like tiny icicles were stabbing and poking at it. What had Ross been thinking?

But then she looked at Riker, and the way he stared back at her, his eyes boring into hers like he could see her deepest thoughts, and all her worries vanished away. Who cares if people knew? Who cares if people thought it was disgusting? Laura had him, and she leaned over and kissed him.

He kissed back, slowly at first, but Laura pulled him closer on the cool bench. His lips were hungry and passionate, long and wistful. She pulled their lips apart and kissed his tears away, and he sighed, pulling her closer. When they pulled away, another tear slipped out of his eye.

"Laura, I'm _so, so_ sorry. We shouldn't have gotten together. We shouldn't have... I shouldn't have..." He looked crushed. He genuinely felt horrible for putting her career and reputation at risk. Laura placed both of her hands on either side of his face and forced him to look at her.

"No! Don't speak like that! I don't care if people know, or if people think you're like a pedophile or anything. I just want to be with you. That's all I want," Laura whispered. "Okay? Don't think any of that. Don't worry about me. I want to be with you, I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered. She kissed him again, and he kissed back, his mouth eager. Then, he slowly started to tug at her shirt, and Laura led him inside, up to her bedroom. She let him take her virginity, and in return, he gave her a pleasurable, sensual experience nobody else could never, ever replace.

After that, things worked great for them. While they were expecting lots of hate, instead they got many congratulations, and good wishes. Even though some people didn't expect Riker and Laura to become a couple, many were supportive. Riker looked so happy and relieved, and Laura couldn't help but catch onto his mood.

The only bad part was Ross got his punishment for announcing the photos. And while Laura couldn't believe that this guy used to be her close friend, she still felt a little soft towards him. Being grounded for nine months, locked in the house, with nothing to do, seemed pretty harsh. But despite the bitterness in his grounding, Laura knew, in a way, he deserved it.

Even the prettiest boys need a kick of reality sometimes.

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><p>Four years later, things were going at a nice, steady rhythm. Riker and Laura moved out together into a one-story house near his old home, and there was never another falter in their love. Riker was a guy Laura could go to for anything, everything. He was willing to stay up late at night to talk to her, to wake up in the early morning to see her.<p>

So he decided to propose to her.

He didn't even have a ring or anything. In fact, he hadn't even taken her out on a special date. They were just cuddling, watching old Disney movies for fun and singing along to the songs. Then Riker looked at her, laughter sparkling in his eyes, and said, "We should get married."

The question didn't just surprise her. It caught her off-guard so much that she almost fell off the couch."Huh?"

Again, the amazing brilliance in that answer.

Riker smiled sheepishly, folding their hands together. "We should get married. I love you. You love me. Let's get married."

"Do you have a ring?"

"Not yet."

"Were you planning on buying one?"

"Of course I was."

"Were you planning on telling me like this?"

"No. But it seemed like the perfect time to ask." Riker grinned. "So, what do you say?"

"How are we going to do this? In Las Vegas?" she joked. "A big wedding? A small one?"

Riker grinned even wider. "So, that's a yes? You'll marry me?"

"You didn't even ask it _romantically_."

Riker only shrugged, his hair falling in front of his right eye. "I never go through the bullshit of saying all that crap, but if I must. Laura, you're extremely beautiful and stunning, and I really like waking up to seeing your face and falling asleep with you in my arms. I could do it for the rest of my life. And even though marriage is just an official way of saying _you're mine, that's it, no other guys allowed_ and it's kind of pointless, what do you say? Keep up that old American tradition?"

Laura giggled at his _just amazing_ speech. He couldn't keep his own sarcasm out of it. But she nodded, and he beamed, taking her hand and leaning in to swiftly kiss her on the lips. (She wondered if he actually _had_ planned on asking her like this. He probably had. That little liar.)

Four months later, their wedding was ready. It was a small wedding, with only family and close friends, which was okay with both Riker and Laura. Her dress was stunning. Rydel and Raini helped her pick it out. Her mother did her hair, and her father handed her off. Riker looked just perfect in his suit, and when they kissed, he whispered "_I love you."_

_"I love you, too."_

Their honeymoon was in Washington State, in a small town called Long Beach. It wasn't exotic like Italy, or the Bahamas, but it had an old-town vibe to it and a huge beach stretched along near their hotel, right next to the Pacific. They spent a little over a week there, before returning to LA to their simple, one-story house.

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><p>He never stopped being so straight-forward.<p>

Two years after their marriage, they were in their bedroom, talking and kissing. Then, he crawled on top of her, his lips suddenly warm as he pressed their mouths together, his hands exploring her body.

"Riker..." A sigh escaped from her lips as he kissed down her neck. He smiled, his brown eyes adoring as he looked at her.

"We should have a child," he whispered against her lips, tugging at her shirt. Even though he meant it to be smooth and alluring and an invitation to some fun, she couldn't help but let the bubble of laughter float up her chest and release.

The mood on pause, Riker crinkled his eyebrows at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I just noticed you were always straight-forward with everything about us," Laura admitted sheepishly. Riker shrugged, before cocking his head at her.

"I never was one for slow, patient decisions."

"I can tell."

Riker laughed, filling the room with his rich voice. Then he smiled, kissed her on the lips, and flipped them over so she was laying on top of him.

"I was always straight-forward with everything. Especially our either go out and get it or you don't, right? "

"Our straight-forward love." Laura smiled at the sound of it, and Riker grinned and kissed her again.

"Indeed it is."

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><p><strong>So, there's that one-shot. I'm not really sure how good this writing actually is, but I had fun with it. Really, Riaura just makes my heart smile, which sounds very strange, I know, but it's how I feel. xD<strong>

**Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update my other stories too! :)**

**~Cynthia**


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